Brazil, Germany, India and Japan on Monday circulated a draft resolution to the U.N. General Assembly that calls for the expansion of the Security Council from 15 to 25 seats, including six new permanent members. The four nations, lobbying for permanent seats, presented a framework for enlarging the prestigious body but did not include their own names as candidates, an action that would be decided later, the draft resolution said, according to Reuters. It was unclear whether the measure, the first to be considered for a vote after a decade of discussion on council reform, would obtain the required two-thirds support from the 191 General Assembly members. The draft proposed veto rights for the new permanent members, but a cover letter indicated the four would be flexible, saying the veto question "should not be a hindrance to Security Council reform." --SP 2322 Local Time 2022 GMT
